Clare Fine Gael TD Mr Joe Cooney is urging the HSE to redress the imbalance of General Practitioner (GP) cover in North Tipperary, Clare, and Limerick, compared with surrounding regions.
Figures released by HSE Mid-West to Deputy Cooney show that there are 258 GPs catering to a population of 385,712 in North Tipperary, Clare, and Limerick, which represents one GP per 1,493 people.
GP cover in the region is lower than in Galway/Roscommon/Mayo and Kerry/Cork, which have one GP per 1,387 people and 1,382 people, respectively.
Nationally, there are 3,160 GPs with a public contract, in addition to other GPs, including those who work privately, GPs in training, and International Medical Graduate (IMG) participants.
Deputy Cooney’s request for additional resources to be allocated to the Mid-West comes in light of the ongoing absence of a practicing GP in the village of Newmarket-on-Fergus, Clare’s fifth-largest population centre.
The HSE has been providing locals with a part-time GP service from the nearby Carrigoran House since 2020, following the retirement of the town’s long-serving GP.
Deputy Cooney said he has engaged with HSE Mid-West in recent days to secure a permanent GP service in Newmarket-on-Fergus.
HSE Mid-West confirmed it is actively working on plans to secure permanent GP accommodation in the locality. In the meantime, Dr. Colum Gavin of Saffron & Blue Medical is continuing to provide a GP service to patients on Monday mornings and all day on Thursdays from its current location at Carrigoran House. Outside of these times, patients from the Newmarket-on-Fergus area can be seen at Saffron & Blue Medical Centre at Clareabbey, Clarecastle.
Following representations from the local community in Kildysart, Deputy Cooney said he will also be raising the ongoing part-time locum doctor service being provided by Saffron & Blue Medical Centre in the village, with a view to having a full-time service restored.
“The figures provided by HSE Mid-West show a clear imbalance between the Mid-West and surrounding regions in terms of permanent GP accommodation,” explained Deputy Cooney. “Having received the data to back this up, I will now ask the Minister for Health to increase pressure on the HSE to expedite investment in GP cover across North Tipperary, Clare, and Limerick .”
“In my engagement with the HSE, I was informed that the HSE is working closely with the Irish College of General Practitioners on a range of measures to expand the GP workforce. While I acknowledge that GP training places nationally have increased from an intake of 259 in 2022 to 350 in 2024, it is clear that the Mid-West is not benefiting in the same way as other parts of the country from the corresponding rise in newly qualified GPs.
The situation in Newmarket-on-Fergus is a case in point, as the town has been without a permanent GP presence since the retirement of Dr. Colum Hackett in May 2019. Likewise, the local community in Kildysart have contacted me with a view to securing a full-term service,” he added.
“The Strategic Review of General Practice, which is currently being led by the Department of Health, must be expedited so the arrangements necessary to improve access to GP care in larger population centres can be identified and action taken to redress the imbalance”, he concluded
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